Canada Bay monument
This monument in Concord honours a historic link between Australia and Canada. Following the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837 to 1838, two Irish and 56 French Canadian rebels were deported to Australia and imprisoned at the Longbottom Stockade. The area around here bears a reminder of this history with the names Canada Bay, France Bay and Exile Bay.
Huh? Really? Why to Australia? And what and where was the Longbottom Stockade? Me hungry for more information ....
ReplyDeleteI guess Australia was still a penal colony then, so any of the British colonies could send their convicts here.
ReplyDeletehey Jim!
ReplyDeletenice blog, glad I found you
Sarah
Some lovely scenes there and I always learn something when I come here.
ReplyDeleteThat's quite the connection between Canada and Australia! I guess sending the Canadians so far away practically ensured they'd not return too quickly!
ReplyDeleteI guess Australia was still a penal colony then, so any of the British colonies could send their convicts here.
ReplyDeleteJulie, in the early days of Captain Thomas Cook claimed on this continent island, the prison cell in England was overcrowded with prisoners. So it was decided that those prisoners were to be taken down to build Australia which to the British was a "backwater" country.
ReplyDeleteIt was the convicts' hard toil that the remnants of Australian relics, English history and traditions, the heritage buildings and all ... not to mention the Celtics spirits are still with us today.
Thanks to those convicts ... in returned after they became free ... they were allowed to claim and own acres after acres of property.
Imagine .... just imagine ...why and how Australia became an extended portion of the United Kingdom.
So much more Julie ...it's an interesting piece of history. Just google more information. You'll be amazed! Because I do!
I hope this day finds you well. I wanted to contact you in regards to an event in tribute to the Lower Canadians sent to New South Wales as Political prisoners in 1840. Myself, I'm a duo Canadian/Australian based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. I am doing the definite documentary account on this subject matter which will be shown next year on May 18, 2020, at the City of Canada Bay, near Sydney, NSW. This will follow after the commemoration ceremony for the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the Canadian exile monument there. Many descendants of the Canadian who remained in Australia will attend.
ReplyDeleteI'm having a similar ceremony in Hobart on September 30, 2020, for the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of the monument there, dedicated to the Upper Canadian (Ontario) and American exiles who were sent to Tasmania as Political Prisoners. On that note, it would be an honour if you could attend this event next year.
The documentary itself is called LAND OF A THOUSAND SORROWS REVISITED. Here is a link to one of my early teaser trailers to this project below:
https://vimeo.com/250297468
Look forward to seeing you all there,
Truly,
Pierre Marcoux